We believe the larger region has a stake in these elections and strongly encourage voters in both areas to cast their ballots in favor of annexation. The annexation effort has been community-driven in both districts and was unanimously approved in both cases by the HCC Board of Trustees.

Voters should now take the deciding step of approval.

Over time, HCC has established itself as a major cog in our regional educational/economic engine. Time and again the system has shown itself nimbly responsive to the needs of area employers for skilled workers.

Not for nothing are community colleges known as the PT boats of higher education: They move swiftly and efficiently to achieve difficult tasks that bring large benefits to our economy. In a technology-dependent economy such as Houston's, the training for many $75,000-$80,000-a-year jobs is done at institutions such as HCC. The training work done by the HCC system can literally be the difference between keeping those employers here and seeing them pack up and leave.

This is all in addition to the more traditional work HCC does preparing college-bound students who will do two years at the community college then complete their four-year degrees (and perhaps more) at the state's colleges and universities. Again, community colleges can mean the difference between going to college or not for thousands of economically disadvantaged and mid-career students.

The benefits of inclusion in the community college system are a genuine bargain. The system's tax rate of just over nine cents per $100 of assessed value is the lowest among area community colleges. Residents over age 65 receive an exemption of up to $100,000 in addition to the 10 percent homestead exemption.

In Spring Branch, the annexation effort has been targeted for defeat by antitax crusaders wishing to draw the line against additional taxes. That is a shortsighted crusade: Education that helps the Houston area train a skilled job force is precisely the wrong place to draw lines.

Expanding HCC into these two school districts will strengthen the community college system and, thus, the regional economy. We urge Spring Branch and North Forest voters to cast their ballots in favor of annexation.